I just found out yesterday that my parents only have $26,000 in an IRA for their retirement! My Dh has about that same amount of money in his 401(k) and he is about to be 26. My dad is about to be 62 and my mom is 53. I was completely shocked. I can't wrap my head around what they will need to do or how long they will need to work.
My parents have almost no retirement money!
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
Joined
·
966 Posts
What do they say about it? What other debt do they have? Do they have a home that is paid for?
Joined
·
2,093 Posts
For so long that was not uncommon to happen. And something that is hard is that when you have no money it is hard to put money towards your retirement.
Did they say what your dads social security will be when he is old enough to retire? I am sure that is soon and do they have anything that will come from where they work? Any sort of pension?
Did they say what your dads social security will be when he is old enough to retire? I am sure that is soon and do they have anything that will come from where they work? Any sort of pension?
Joined
·
1,511 Posts
wow do you think they could downsize the house and such? i know a few of my friends who have done that! gave lots of wiggle room, oh and they need to make a budget! wow i really think that would scare the pants off me to REALLY save for my retirement. hmm do they have a plan at all?
Umm... that is really a problem. We had much more than that saved many years ago, and I'm not even 30 yet.
You really need to talk to a financial planner, who can help them out. Figure out how much Social Security they can expect, how much they can expect to bring in (for however long they can continue working), etc. Can they sell their home or reverse mortgage?
Hopefully they have options. YIKES!
You really need to talk to a financial planner, who can help them out. Figure out how much Social Security they can expect, how much they can expect to bring in (for however long they can continue working), etc. Can they sell their home or reverse mortgage?
Hopefully they have options. YIKES!
Joined
·
10,486 Posts
My parents are a bit like that, they don't have a plan, have no idea what they need or how to save for it, my dad says he's never going to retire. I worry a lot about having to support them.
They aren't that bad off though, I estimate they have 4 or 5 times that in investments, mom has a pension through being a teacher, dad will get SS and they have investment real estate that brings in money now and equity in their house (but still have a mortgage).
How receptive are your parents to help? My problem is my parents are very touchy about it and I don't think there is much I can do to help them as my dad doesn't like being told how to do things (woe on me if I even try to help him organize his desk!) I'd love to get my parents in to see a financial planner.
They aren't that bad off though, I estimate they have 4 or 5 times that in investments, mom has a pension through being a teacher, dad will get SS and they have investment real estate that brings in money now and equity in their house (but still have a mortgage).
How receptive are your parents to help? My problem is my parents are very touchy about it and I don't think there is much I can do to help them as my dad doesn't like being told how to do things (woe on me if I even try to help him organize his desk!) I'd love to get my parents in to see a financial planner.
Joined
·
9,101 Posts
My parents are actually worse off than that- they are in their 50s. Any bad money habits I have, I learned from them. Only instead of learning from their mistakes and moving on, they actually seem to be getting WORSE. So frustrating.
Joined
·
6,605 Posts
Yup, I'm absolutely terrified we'll have to support dh's parents. MIL's 53 with $100K in student loans (got her pharmacy degree last year) and FIL is 67 and only collecting $800/mo in SS. No house, no investments, a decrepit '84 Volvo and a '00 Subaru that's been in 3 accidents is all they have to their names (oh, and they're divorced now - two households to worry about!). So we'll get to say "Sorry kids, Grandma and Grandpa didn't plan for retirement, so you don't get to go to college without going into debt!"
![]()
's me off.
(ETA: And to top it off, there were years they were making $300K - yeah, figure that one out.)
(ETA: And to top it off, there were years they were making $300K - yeah, figure that one out.)
Joined
·
2,509 Posts
I really don't think it's that uncommon. Neither my parents or grandparents, nor DH's have anything saved for retirement. My grandparents live off of SS, and I'm sure my parents will too.
But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table.
But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table.
Quote:
![]()
One day I should start a thread about retirement planning for us lower middle class folks...
Originally Posted by Daisie125  But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table. |
One day I should start a thread about retirement planning for us lower middle class folks...
The thing is, when most of our parents and grandparents were growing up, Social Security, military benefits, and pensions combined to make for a nice retirement. You didn't have to invest or really even save that much; you just had to work hard. You didn't have to choose between retirement and food on the table, medicine, college, or really anything for that matter, because the company would pay for your pension when you retired. Now, the system is changing, people who were counting on pensions, military benefits, and Social Security are finding that they're not there in the way they once were, and people who didn't have the money or education to invest are getting left behind.
IF they have assets they could be planning on selling those off. I don't know how much my parents have in retirement funds, though I know they do put in alot & mom made sure dh did early(age 19 or 20). For some reason she wasn't as pressed for me to have any but we're working on getting dh to take out a certain kind in my name, but he gets the tax deduction. Then I'll get the retirement $.
My Dad will be 54 next month, mom will be 51 in Dec. Mom works & does have something through there, but I don't know if she'll be there long enough to collect enough for it to be worth it. Dad is a farmer. He has plans to retire in the next 7 years(though I can see that being delayed due to how out of character their plans are). He has been buying more farmland left & right the last few years. I know they're still hoping one of us will move back there & at the least they'll sell the land to us, even if we don't farm it ourselves. They will probably offer all of us some of it & we can rent it out. With all they have, if they sell it all they will be living quite comfortably in retirement. They will probably keep some too & rent it out.
My Dad will be 54 next month, mom will be 51 in Dec. Mom works & does have something through there, but I don't know if she'll be there long enough to collect enough for it to be worth it. Dad is a farmer. He has plans to retire in the next 7 years(though I can see that being delayed due to how out of character their plans are). He has been buying more farmland left & right the last few years. I know they're still hoping one of us will move back there & at the least they'll sell the land to us, even if we don't farm it ourselves. They will probably offer all of us some of it & we can rent it out. With all they have, if they sell it all they will be living quite comfortably in retirement. They will probably keep some too & rent it out.
I'm worried about my own parents for the same reason. I know how much they have in retirement, because I filled out my own financial aid forms back in the day. Well, hopefully they have more in there now since that was 13 years ago (woah!), but I wouldn't bet on it. My mom and stepdad are blind, so they are used to living on social security. But then my mom was talking today about how her insulin is not covered for the rest of the year because it is so expensive. I don't think they would be prepared for a major medical situation. Unless the medical situation is *really* bad, then it is covered again.
![]()
:
My dad and stepmom are both working and should have money saved up, but something tells me they don't. These are people who yelled at my little brother for opening the door one day to a creditor from stepmom's previous divorce settlement.
![]()
:
I know I could never live with either sets of parents and still be a good person.
![]()
As the oldest child, I feel like if they were in a situation where they needed help, it would be all on me. I hope they are planning better than I think they are! I think they will be fine, but you never know what will happen 10 or 20 years from now.
My dad and stepmom are both working and should have money saved up, but something tells me they don't. These are people who yelled at my little brother for opening the door one day to a creditor from stepmom's previous divorce settlement.
I know I could never live with either sets of parents and still be a good person.
My parents each have $0 with no plans to save. They're seperated and have nothing to their name (Dad has a small buisness that's more in debt than anything). We don't have much ourselves as we are below the poverty level. I wonder what any of us will do as they're getting up there.
Joined
·
4,587 Posts
Quote:
![]()
:
My mom has nothing. A few thousand dollars maybe, but that's about it. I don't know when she would have saved any more so she has done the best she could. We were lower middle class when I was young also and it took everything they had to get the bills paid. We had just graduated high school when my dad suddenly died and left my mom to take care of everything on the measly salary of an unskilled, former SAHM who had been out of the workforce for 20 years.
It is scary to wonder what will happen in 10, 20 years especially because there is no way my mom will be able to continue the work she is currently doing well into her 60s and 70s. But I guess there is no point stressing out about it; things are what they are and we'll do the best we can when the time comes.
Originally Posted by Daisie125 I really don't think it's that uncommon. Neither my parents or grandparents, nor DH's have anything saved for retirement. My grandparents live off of SS, and I'm sure my parents will too. But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table. |
My mom has nothing. A few thousand dollars maybe, but that's about it. I don't know when she would have saved any more so she has done the best she could. We were lower middle class when I was young also and it took everything they had to get the bills paid. We had just graduated high school when my dad suddenly died and left my mom to take care of everything on the measly salary of an unskilled, former SAHM who had been out of the workforce for 20 years.
It is scary to wonder what will happen in 10, 20 years especially because there is no way my mom will be able to continue the work she is currently doing well into her 60s and 70s. But I guess there is no point stressing out about it; things are what they are and we'll do the best we can when the time comes.
Joined
·
1,667 Posts
We should really start a tribe..... SO and I expect to not only be supporting my MIL in a few years, but due to some pretty rough medical conditions, she'll probably be living with us in under ten years. It's not a pretty picture. I feel resentful that she didn't plan better.
Joined
·
5,139 Posts
Quote:
![]()
: Totally agree with you. My Mom who passed away 3 years ago was a SAHM most of her adult life and my Dad had strict working class jobs so they never saved (nothing to save with).. hell when my Mom got sick and later died, me and dh had to help my folks out. Now my Dad is in his mid 50's and a widower and I suspect that when he gets older my brother & I will be responsible for him.
I will do the best I can for him when the time comes.. Coming from a working class environment it seems pretty normal to me.
Shay
Originally Posted by Daisie125 I really don't think it's that uncommon. Neither my parents or grandparents, nor DH's have anything saved for retirement. My grandparents live off of SS, and I'm sure my parents will too. But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table. |
I will do the best I can for him when the time comes.. Coming from a working class environment it seems pretty normal to me.
Shay
Quote:
![]()
: I know that my parents don't have anything, DH's dad doesn't have anything (and he's doing fine on just his SS). We don't have anything niether, and DH is 41 years old.
It's not from a lack of savings or control niether, some of us just don't make that much money or have had bad times recently (DH was laid off 3 times in the last 2 years).
Originally Posted by Daisie125 I really don't think it's that uncommon. Neither my parents or grandparents, nor DH's have anything saved for retirement. My grandparents live off of SS, and I'm sure my parents will too. But we are lower middle class, generally retirement just isn't much of a priority when you are trying to get food on the table. |
It's not from a lack of savings or control niether, some of us just don't make that much money or have had bad times recently (DH was laid off 3 times in the last 2 years).
Joined
·
672 Posts
MIL has nothing, and is 53, literally probably less than 2000 grand in a 401 K at work. She gets a pension, but what will that be? She also has COPD and numerous other chronic ailments. Not to mention she lives with my BIL and that is the only reason they can stay in the 1 bedroom apartment they have to share. BTW my BIL works in a fast food establishment and seems oblivious that his mother will not always be there. he has no plan on moving up or finding a better job. So like a previous poster said, i do resent the situation. They have no other family, we are it, and aren't exactly making big bucks. So i really worry that the brunt of everything will be on us, but i know i can't have my family suffer financially either. I have no idea what we will do.
1 - 20 of 28 Posts
